Properties Magazine July 2017 : Page 17

Uncovering Opportunity Wagner Awning Building transformation yields new apartments, refreshed office space in Tremont By Carlo Wolff | Photos by Lauren Pacini T he subtle but radical transformation of the former Wagner Awning factory on Cleveland’s near west side proves that such adaptive reuse is not only possible; it also shows how a dedicated team can – and should – work. That seems to be the consensus of the people behind the conversion of the 1895 structure from industrial to residential in 2015/2016. The 88,000-square-foot landmark at Scranton Road and Auburn Avenue in the city’s Tremont neighborhood has only paused once – last year, when it closed for six months so 59 one-bedroom apartments could be built in a space where awnings used to be manufactured. The awning business, meanwhile, is relocating to Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood. Since it debuted its new use in November 2016, the sturdy L-shaped structure, with a painted light gray brick exterior, has been thriving as all of its apartments are now rented and occupied. Blue Star Design, a design, marketing and The northwest-facing building stands at the heart of a parcel including two parking lots which can accommodate 83 cars total. The building’s devel-oper, Sustainable Community Associates (SCA), plans to build another 50 apartments on a vacant lot across Scranton in 2018. The 1.75-acre Wagner Awning site is the second Cleveland ven-ture for SCA, an Oberlin company Josh Rosen that in 2014 converted the long-shuttered Fairmont Creamery on Sustainable Community Associates the Ohio City-Tremont border into 30 apartments, offices and a web agency, has leased almost half of the gym. Josh Rosen, Naomi Sabel and Ben 12,000-square-foot basement. The rest is Ezinga are the Oberlin College gradu-available to lease as office space. ates who formed SCA, launching their www.propertiesmag.com 17 “We like dealing with people who want to find an apartment for under $1,500.... While other new buildings are going after the young lawyer, we like going after the young graphic designer.”